Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah

by Roger Bennett (editor), Aimee Bender (Contributor), David Sax (Contributor)

Announcing a smart, daring, original new take on the Torah. Imagine: 54 leading young Jewish writers, artists, photographers, screenwriters, architects, actors, musicians, and graphic artists grappling with the first five books of the Bible and giving new meaning to the 54 Torah portions that are traditionally read over the course of a year. From the foundational stories of Genesis and Exodus to the legalistic minutiae of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, Unscrolled is a reinterpreting, a reimagining, a creative and eclectic celebration of the Jewish Bible.Here s a graphic-novel version of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, by Rebecca Odes and Sam Lipsyte. Lost creator Damon Lindelof writing about Abraham s decision to sacrifice his son as if Abraham were a mental patient in the wake of that incident. Here s Sloane Crosley bringing Pharaoh into the 21st century, where he s checking out boils, lice, and plague of frogs on WebMD. Plus there s Joshua Foer, Aimee Bender, A. J. Jacobs, David Auburn, Jill Soloway, Ben Greenman, Josh Radnor, Adam Mansbach, and more.Edited by Roger Bennett, a founder of Reboot, a network of young Jewish creatives and intellectuals, Unscrolled is a gathering of brilliant, diverse voices that will speak to anyone interested in Jewish thought and identity and, with its singular design and use of color throughout, the perfect bar and bat mitzvah gift. First it presents a synopsis of the Torah portion, written by Bennett, and then the story is reinterpreted, in forms that range from the aforementioned graphic novel and transcript to stories, poems, memoirs, letters, plays, infographics, monologues each designed to give the reader a fresh new take on some of the oldest, wisest, and occasionally weirdest stories of the Western world, while inspiring new ideas about the Bible and its meaning, value, and place in our lives.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Nonfiction, Religion

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2013

Reviews

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is fun--having 54 modern writers give fresh takes on traditional Torah portions is fun. However, it is true that this ends up being highly uneven and since it written by writers and artists, not scholars and Rabbis, some of the leaps seem a little interpretatively dubious and perhaps too clever.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had so much promise, SO much! But it fell flat on its face in its execution. The bible is endlessly inspiring, in terms of spirituality, but more so (at least for me) in terms of creativity. I have created many projects using The Good Book as source material. Here, however, what should have stood out as unique simply wasn't so. 54 writers were commissioned to reinterpret one torah portion each, and I would have expected the editor to ensure that each segment stood out by itself from the others. They did not. Too many of the writers used the same ideas, some even used commentary that did not revolve around the torah portion at all. Some just mailed it in. It's as if they were secure in their own opinion of their genius, and wouldn't work with the editor on maximizing their creative energies, perhaps forcing him to accept whatever it was they brought to the table. The input felt lazy. Only about 6 or 7 of the entries were truly borderline genius. The rest were flat as millenia old Coke.

[reading is my hustle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprising, sublime, and creative celebration of the Torah.
I mean dang.
Loved. Loved. Loved.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

enlightening and irreverent - great combo

[Scott Haraburda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Book.

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Re-writing ancient texts in modern ways provides readers fresh points of view to familiar stories. This is exactly what several writers and artists did with Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah: A Reboot Book. It’s a unique book addition to anyone’s religious library. Although many people would find it difficult to read, it offers a way to view Scriptures from contemporary perspectives. These were written in a variety of forms such as scripts, memoirs, poems, photos, cartoons, and stories.

Unfortunately, several of them took artistic license with no boundaries to the sanctity of the Scriptures. This included suggesting that all clothes were made by men having sexual relations with other men, killing a “gay dude” is acceptable, drawing a neighbor’s ox with a chastity belt, and profanity such as “f**k” and “muf**ker”. The editor, Roger Bennett, should have edited these objectionable items from the final publication. With them in there, many devoutly religious people would take view this book as sacrilege, or a serious violation of God’s Holy Words. However, I do realize that most modern nations have abandoned criminalizing sacrilege in lieu of freedoms of expression.

Except for some questionable additions to this book, many of the contributions provide respectful allegories that portray the truths behind these Scriptures. Unscrolled provides a fresh look at ancient stories, and is a useful addition to one’s religious library.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rating/review is based on a free copy of the book I got from a Goodreads giveaway.

Done! Finally!

This was an interesting read for me; because despite being raised Catholic, I have never read the Torah/Pentateuch. Still haven't. Each section starts with a recap of the biblical text then whatever the contributors wrote/drew/designed -- and to the book's credit there is a pretty wide variety of contributions. Most were kind of boring/uncreative/phoned in, but there were some really stand-out pieces. I LOVED Sloane Crosley's piece about the plagues and architect Marc Kushner's interpretation of the very specific instructions for the tabernacle. There were some heartfelt pieces, some funny ones, and some unsuccessful attempts at humor ("here's an idea, lets make God sassy! Or lets make Moses sassy!" SPARE ME). Pretty standard anthology, i.e. all over the place.

[Susan Brock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an inviting and creative approach to a part of the Bible that can be difficult or intimidating. Short sections of Bible chapters are summarized then followed by stories, poems or artwork that explore the different themes. The explorations are filled with 21st century references (google, graphic art, movies, etc.) so I guess the intention is to make the ancient themes fresh and contemporary. To me the overall effect was somewhat strained and at times needlessly flippant. I did not find the humor especially funny. Unscrolled did not hold my interest for very long. However I can see that it might appeal to others, particularly those who find the Torah formidable or those who enjoy a more visual approach. Unscrolled could inspire one's own creative exploration of the Bible.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm honestly not even sure I'd give the third star. This just didn't do it for me from the very beginning. The background essays on the readings were too simplistic for a market ready to "wrestle." Most of the "wrestling" felt like reading notes someone else took in a class where they didn't get the material. Better idea: Pick up the Torah and wrestle with it yourself.

EDIT: There's gotta be a line somewhere in the Torah like "don't give the extra star on Goodreads just because you feel bad about it," right?

[Janelle Fallan · Rating 5 out of 5]

You do not have to be Jewish to enjoy this book. Whether you call the first five books of the Bible the Torah or the Pentateuch, this book is entertaining and thought provoking. Leviticus and Numbers especially can be such a dense, long slog.
"Unscrolled" gives us short stories (Hagar as a nanny come to New York from the South), a real estate ad for the Ark of the Covenant as a mobile home, the bizarre ritual of the red heifer told from her point of view, Moses dealing with a modern PR firm, cartoons and more for 54 stories.

[David Rullo · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I really enjoyed the concept of the bookm I also appreciated the brief description of the weekly Torah portion. Sometimes the writers pueces fell flat but for the most part I enjoyed what they were attempting. I'll read this again fir the next year and hope an Unscrolled Rebooted V2 is published soon.

[Rachel Levitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, concise summary of the Torah. Some of the commentary essays and whatnots were off the mark, I think, but overall I really enjoyed actually learning what goes on in the Torah beyond the "big" stories.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reading to go along with the week's Torah portion, or even just to read all the way through. Some of the pieces are really clever, and some are really irritating. (I'm looking at you, Ted from How I Met Your Mother.)

[Barb Wiseberg]

Provocative, unconventional, unique. The interpretation of each portion of the Torah is definitely not the same as what I learnt in school, but this book kept me up late, as I read it all in one sitting.

Kudos to reboot for initiating this project. It was an outstanding read!

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a lot of Torah commentaries written by a lot of different types of groups. I was disappointed in this one because I didn't feel I learned anything. Some sections were moving; others were funny. None made me fell like I saw the Torah text anew.

[Eric Sbar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it tough to have modern discussions when reading about stoning, unblemished red cows, how to deal with corpses, and various forms of sacrifices. I am not sure that the writers did well either. Some were quite clever but often just for the sake of being clever.

[Frank Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It's intelligent, irreverent, funny -- a lot of fun to read.

[Velvetink]

tuebl

[Merrily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creative ? Yes. Enlightening? No. Mainly modern TV and entertainment writers creating modern vignettes, some of it humorous, mostly snarky.

[Elie Carver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow this one took me a while due to how little I was into it. (Sorry to my rabbi and teacher who thought I'd like this one.) Half of the interpretations felt like the writers or artists or whatever projecting their own relationship troubles onto people from the Torah, which got boring after a while.

[Tal · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was cool to see different thoughts.

[char · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very quickly lost interest and forgot to update. Whoops. Never finished.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A selection of essays, cartoons and other works of art, one for each Torah portion. I laughed at a few, cringed at a few more, and didn't have a strong reaction to most.